Gain 30 Pounds of Mass in 30 Days

For all but the most fortunate, building muscle mass, particularly in large quantities, is an arduous task requiring an extreme degree of dedication and determination. It demands great sacrifice, monopolizing the individual’s time and thoughts on numerous levels if he is to be successful. Yet, even after years of self-imposed restriction and commitment to the cause, many find the desired result to be elusive. At some point, should one continue to invest without finding an acceptable return, the loss of hope is inevitable. Many chalk up their failure to poor genetics and while they no doubt play a role in determining how far one can take their development, even the genetically deficient can build an amount of mass that most would consider awe-inspiring.

All over the world, there are would-be bodybuilders with a strong worth ethic, who grind away in the gym week after week, and year after year, but make little to no meaningful progress. They have evaluated their situation objectively, yet remain at a total loss to explain their unrewarded efforts. They have followed all the guidelines for growth laid out in the magazines, such as training hard, eating the right foods, taking the best supplements, getting a full night’s rest, and even using steroids. From their perspective, they have left no stone unturned in their quest to develop a BBr’s physique.

Unfortunately, this is a fairly common scenario and more often than not, the underlying cause is ignorance based. Frequently, the blame can be placed at the feet of a single, yet critical, error. For example, it could be something as simple as under-eating. There are numerous BB’rs out there who place great emphasis on the minutia of BB’ing nutrition, such as consuming 6 meals per day, eating the best foods, adhering to proper meal timing, and even following a macro ratio ideally suited for their metabolism, but they fail to make progress simply because they are not meeting their daily caloric requirements for growth. Even with AAS in the picture, this is a dead-end to muscle growth. Many times, if you ask these BB’rs how much they are eating, they spit out statistics, such as…“I eat 6 X per day, 200 grams of protein”, etc. When asked specifically how many calories they eat, they can’t tell you. When it is finally explained to them that their problem lies not in their nutritional approach, but in the amount of food consumed, their response is rarely one of acceptance, especially when addressing someone who already feels like eating has become a chore.

Other times, the error is a lack of consistency. This is most readily apparent in the area of nutrition. It is not uncommon to encounter BB’rs who follows a solid diet for a period of time, only to fall off the nutritional bandwagon after a few weeks or months. This can have devastating consequences for a BB’r trying to build an above average level of muscle mass, as muscle requires a constant stream of nutrition just to maintain it, let alone build additional tissue. This rollercoaster approach is a sure fire way of keeping a BB’r from achieving his ultimate potential.

As demonstrated above, it is often small, yet critical errors which derail a BBr’s progress, ultimately sending him down a road of discouragement. In reality, the principles essential to growth are relatively simple. In abbreviated fashion, they are as follows. You must provide the muscle with a stimulus for growth (weight training), ensure the body is supplied with the proper nutrition, and allow enough time for recovery & growth to occur before stimulating the muscle again. Assuming the individual’s hormonal environment is sufficient for sustaining muscle growth, following these principles will result in consistent progress. While most of you reading this article learned these basic truths long ago, you might be surprised at how many advanced BB’rs are not meeting one or more of these requirements on a regular basis. As the body grows and changes, so too does it nutritional, training, and recovery requirements and it is during this process of change that a once perfect program frequently becomes inadequate for sustaining further growth. In other words, just because your program was capable of meeting your body’s needs last year does not mean that same program is suitable for today. It is the responsibility of each BB’r to periodically reassess their nutrition, training, and recovery, to ensure that they remain optimal in their current state.

Several years ago, back when Dorian Yates ruled the BB’ing world, he made a profound comment regarding the progression of his development, which has stuck with me to this day. He stated that he would evaluate his progress at monthly intervals and if at the end of each month he had not made any measurable progress, he would reassess each aspect of his program until he found out why. He would then go about making the necessary adjustments, putting him back on the track to muscle growth. Dorian brings up two very valid points in this brief comment. One, he makes it clear that waiting any longer than one month to see visible progress was unacceptable and attributable to program error. Two, if progress was interrupted, it was incumbent on him to locate and correct any flaw(s) responsible for this lack of growth. If a lesson is to be learned here, it is that consistent and appreciable muscle growth is not the result of happenstance, but of a planned and calculated approach. Today, few BB’rs demonstrate this type of take control mind-set, instead preferring to view the growth process as random and unreliable. Those who adopt this attitude tend to believe that variables outside of their control play a significant role in this process, while the above mentioned principles have only a partial influence on their rate of development. By refusing to acknowledge the full extent of their control, they free themselves from the sense of responsibility necessary for initiating change and therefore, are less likely to take corrective action.

So, what does all this have to do with gaining 30 pounds in 30 days? Before moving on, it is important to understand that drugs alone are basically ineffective. They only serve to enhance your “potential” for growth…they don’t cause growth by themselves. If you wish to gain as much muscle as possible, as quickly as possible, you are going to have to supply your body with everything it needs to get there in terms of nutrition, training, and recovery. Otherwise, you will never come anywhere close to achieving your maximum potential. Before we start getting into details, I want to make it clear that I am not recommending or suggesting that anyone utilize this program. Should anyone decide to implement this program on their own, they should possess a full understanding of the drugs contained herein and how to administer them properly.

This program consists of two different phases, the first of which is commonly referred to as the “priming” phase and the 2nd, which is referred to as the compensation phase. Priming is a series of steps, prerequisites actually, which must be met prior to engaging in the 2nd half of the program. These steps are critical in preparing the body for what lies ahead, so that it can respond optimally to the various components of the compensation phase. This entire process will take about 60 days, with each phase lasting about 30 days.

During the priming phase, the body is exposed to excessive training stress (in terms of volume and intensity) along with slight nutritional deficiencies (reduced protein intake and caloric depravation) and a sub-par hormonal environment…not enough to cause muscle loss, but just enough so that it is barely able to recover and maintain its current level of muscle tissue. By subjecting the body to this increased training load in combination with sub-par nutrition, it forces the body to up-regulate its response to the training stimulus by increasing recovery rate, make the most of its nutritional state by utilizing protein more efficiently, and lower its metabolic rate in order to conserve calories.

Then, when the individual moves into the compensation phase, the body is slammed with an abundance of calories and protein, training volume and intensity is reduced, and the hormonal environment is optimized. While phase #1 may have ended, the body will continue to remain in an up-regulated state for a few additional weeks, before finally realizing that things have returned to normal. It is this brief period of continued up-regulation that we are trying to take maximum advantage of. During this window of opportunity, we are able to pack on muscle at a much faster rate than would have been possible under normal circumstances, as the body’s ability to utilize protein is enhanced and recovery ability is accelerated. In other words, the processes involved in muscle hypertrophy become more efficient. Still, this is not enough. We must perfect our hormonal environment by administering the most effective muscle-building drugs for short-term growth, which needless to say, will result in dramatic effects.

Now that I have provided a basic explanation for how the program works, let’s move onto the program set-up. Please keep in mind that many of the guidelines listed below are just that…guidelines. Unless I specifically state that something is to be administered at a certain dose or that a specific number of macros are to be consumed, etc, then you have the freedom to adjust things as they suit you best. For example, although I say to administer 6-10 IU of Humalog with each meal, when it comes to a drug like insulin, you have to do what is right for you. Most people will be able to fall within that 6-10 IU range, but there will be those who do not. With 100’s to 1000’s of people reading this article, it is impossible for me to write out specific guidelines for each individual, so I can only provide generalizations. Like I said earlier, anyone who chooses to follow this program should possess the knowledge necessary to do it safely. If you do not, you should not even consider it. The guidelines for phase #1 are listed below:

During both phases, you should attempt to get a minimum of 8 hours of sleep per day and if possible, catch some extra rest on the weekend or any other days you have off work. As you can see, there is nothing special about the training, diet, and drug protocol listed here. The magic is found not in the individual components of the program, but in the way they interact together. I recently had a client add 43 pounds in 30 days by adhering the basic tenets laid out above. If you are looking to pack of muscle in a hurry, this program will get the job done.